Christmas crash victims laid to rest
Mr Lim Ah Kuan following behind the hearses during the funeral today (Dec 29). Photo: Ernest Chua
SINGAPORE — Growing up, Barnabas Lim Ah Huat’s parents were busy working most of the time. Hence, when he became a parent himself, he wanted his two sons to have the attention he did not have, said his younger brother, Mr Lim Ah Kuan.
And going on holidays together was one of the ways the tight-knit family spent time together, Mr Lim told the media before the funeral of his brother today (Dec 29), his brother’s wife Ng Khai Ling and their elder son Rayshon Barnabas Lim, who died on Christmas Day in a car crash near Mersing, Malaysia. The accident also killed Malaysian Noor Haryanti Safiai. The Lims’ younger son, Evan, is the sole survivor.
Mr Lim, 44, a businessman, last saw his older brother about three to four months ago when the family visited him in Thailand, where he lives. When he visits Singapore, he would stay with his older brother in his Sengkang home. “He is a very caring father... All my brother wants is to give his kids a stable family and let them experience family love,” said Mr Lim, in a mix of Mandarin and English.
Mr Lim had been planning for a vacation when he received news of his brother and his family’s death. He dropped everything and dashed to the airport to catch the first possible flight, he said.
Mr Lim also said that Evan, who is three years old, is recovering well from his burns in the hospital, “playing happily with toys and laughing”. He was still unaware of what happened to his parents and older brother, and Mr Lim would change the subject when it came up, he said, adding: “The two brothers are very close to each other.”
A father of two daughters, he is willing to take care of Evan, but respected the decision to let Evan’s maternal grandparents care for him, as they have expressed the intention to do so. It does not matter who cares for Evan as long as he is well-taken of in a stable home, he said, adding it has similarly been a difficult time for his late sister-in-law’s family after losing three loved ones.
At about 3pm, the three coffins were placed into hearses, the first of which bore a photo of the three deceased. As Christian songs in Mandarin played in the background, about 60 family members and friends, shedding tears, followed the hearses out of Sin Ming Drive.
Mr Lim shared how his older brother, a staunch Christian, was determined to keep to the straight and narrow and leave his drug addiction behind. “My brother has come a long way, struggled through difficult times to lead a proper life,” added Mr Lim.
